Join us every Thursday in January and the first Thursday in February for the IAMSE Winter 2021 Webcast Audio Seminar Series.
Now what do we do?
USMLE STEP-1 is going to Pass/Fail
The debate about the pros and cons of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 score reporting has been ongoing for over a decade. The issues are complicated and both positive and negative aspects of score reporting can be cited, depending on where you are positioned in the UME-GME continuum. In March of 2019, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), American Medical Association (AMA), the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG), the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) convened a multi-stakeholder Invitational Conference on USMLE Scoring (InCUS) to explore issues and concerns regarding the USMLE Step 1 exam and to consider recommendations specific to USMLE score reporting and the broader system of transition from UME to GME.
A general consensus emerged: the current UME-GME transition system is flawed and not meeting the needs of stakeholders. As a result of further stakeholder discussions, the USMLE decided that beginning with the administration of Step 1 in 2022, the exam will be scored as pass/fail and no numeric score will be reported. This decision will undoubtedly impact faculty, students, and programs across the UME-GME continuum.
In this five-part series, recognized experts from the various stakeholder groups will present and discuss the impact of this decision, identify challenges to their respective programs and explore creative ways to address the consequences of this important medical education milestone. These thought-provoking sessions will include the perspectives of allopathic and osteopathic residency program directors, basic science faculty, undergraduate medical education curriculum designers, clinical educators, and programs that involve international medical students matriculating to the United States.
As always, IAMSE Student Members can register for the series for FREE! Email support@iamse.org for more information.
Details about the series will be coming soon, so keep an eye on your inbox. For more details on the upcoming Winter 2021 series or our archives, please visit www.iamse.org.